The 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot was a Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army also known as the Black Watch. Originally titled Crawford's Highlanders or the Highland Regiment (mustered 1739) and numbered 43rd in the line, in 1748, on the disbanding of James Oglethorpe's Regiment of Foot they were renumbered 42nd, and in 1751 formally titled the 42nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot. The 42nd Regiment was one of the first three Highland Regiments to fight in North America, along with the 77th and 78th Regiments. The unit was honoured with the name Royal Highland Regiment in 1758. Its informal name Black Watch became official in 1861.Groves (1893), p. 15. In 1881, the regiment was amalgamated with 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot under the Childers Reforms into The Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch), being officially redesignated The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) in 1931. In 2006, the Black Watch became part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
History
Early history
Following the Jacobite rising of 1715 the British government did not have the resources or manpower to keep a standing army in the Scottish Highlands. As a result, they were forced to keep order by recruiting men from local Highland clans that had been loyal to the Whigs. This proved to be unsuccessful in deterring crime, especially cattle rustling. Therefore, Independent Highland Companies (of what would be known as the "Black Watch") were raised as a militia in 1725 by General George Wade to keep "watch" for crime. He was commissioned to build a network of roads to help in the task.K. S. Mackenzie, "General Wade & His Roads", paper before the Inverness Scientific Society, 13 April 1897 The six Independent Highland Companies were recruited from local clans, with one company coming from Clan Munro, one from Clan Fraser of Lovat, one from Clan Grant and three from Clan Campbell. These companies were commonly known as Am Freiceadan Dubh, or the Black Watch, this name may well have been due to the way they dressed. Four more companies were added in 1739 to make a total of ten Independent Highland Companies.
The ten Independent Highland Companies of "Black Watch" were officially formed into the "43rd Highland Regiment of Foot", a regiment of the line in 1739. It was first mustered in 1740, at Aberfeldy, Scotland. The Colonel was John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford and the Lieutenant-Colonel was Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet. Among the Captains were his next brother, George Munro, 1st of Culcairn (also a Captain of an Independent Company raised in 1745) and their cousin John Munro, 4th of Newmore, who was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1745 (in place of Sir Robert who went on to command the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot). The other Captains of the 43rd were George Grant, Colin Campbell of Monzie, James Colquhoun of Luss, John Campbell of Carrick, Collin Campbell of Balliemore and Dougal Campbell of Craignish.
First action and mutiny
In March 1743, the regiment was assembled at Perth in preparation for moving to London, then Flanders to join British forces fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession. Scottish officials, including the Lord President of the Court of Session, Duncan Forbes warned the government this was contrary to a general understanding their service was restricted to Scotland. Forbes also foresaw that if the regiment was withdrawn from its watching brief in the Highlands the French might, in conjunction with Jacobites, take the opportunity to sponsor an insurrection in the Highlands as a diversionary tactic in the war.Letter from the Lord President to General Clayton, Culloden Papers, Addenda, p 360, T Cadell and W Davies (1815). Assured the move was only because George II wanted to inspect them, they arrived in London in May and were then ordered to Gravesend for shipment to Flanders. Anger at the deception, allied to rumours they were going to the West Indies, a location notorious for high mortality rates, caused a mutiny; they set out for Scotland, led by Corporals Malcolm and Samuel MacPherson and Private Farquhar Shaw. They reached Ladywood on the outskirts of Oundle, Northamptonshire on 22 May before being intercepted. The mutineers surrendered in hope of a free pardon but were marched back to London and incarcerated in the Tower of London. The three leaders of the mutiny were subsequently court-martialed and executed by firing squad on 18 July 1743, at Tower Green. Two hundred other members of the regiment were distributed variously to garrisons in Jamaica, Gibraltar and Menorca, with the remainder shipped to Flanders.
The regiment's first full combat was the disastrous Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745, where they surprised the French with their ferocity, and greatly impressed their commander, the Duke of Cumberland. Allowed "their own way of fighting", each time they received the French fire Colonel Sir Robert Munro ordered his men to "clap to the ground" while he himself, because of his corpulence, stood alone with the colours behind him.
When the Jacobite rising of 1745 broke out, another three companies were raised in Scotland, one being present at the Battle of Prestonpans in September 1745 where the entire company was either killed or taken prisoner. Another fought for the government under Dugald Campbell of Auchrossan at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 where they suffered no casualties. These three companies were disbanded in 1748. The rest of the regiment landed in England on 4 November and remained there in anticipation of a possible French invasion until after the rebellion ended. From early 1747 to the end of 1748, it was in Flanders but otherwise was stationed in Ireland until 1756. In 1749, after James Oglethorpe's Regiment of Foot was disbanded and the Black Watch was re-numbered the 42nd and in 1751 formally titled the 42nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot. On the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756, it was sent to North America.
The Americas
Between 1758 and 1767 the 42nd served in America. During the French and Indian War, at the first battle of Ticonderoga, also known as the Battle of Carillon, the regiment lost over half of its men in the assault in July 1758. At that time they were already officially recognized as a Royal regiment. The second battalion of the Black Watch was sent to the Caribbean but after the losses of Ticonderoga, the two battalions were consolidated in New York. The regiment was present at the second battle of Ticonderoga in July 1759 and the surrender of Montreal in September 1760. They were sent to the West Indies again where they saw action at Havana, Martinique and Guadeloupe.
In August 1763, the regiment fought in the Battle of Bushy Run while trying to relieve Fort Pitt, modern Pittsburgh, during Pontiac's Rebellion.History of Pittsburgh and environs George Thornton Fleming, American Historical Company, American Historical Society, Incorporated, New York, 1922. "They waited on the commander of the fort, Captain William Murray, who received them politely and introduced them to the Rev. Mr. McLagan, the chaplain of the 42d Highlanders, then the garrison of the fort."
In 1765, the regiment was stationed at Fort Loudoun in Pennsylvania, where rising tensions between themselves and local settlers culminated in an armed conflict known as The Black Boys rebellion. Confrontations between soldiers and settlers became common, and Lieutenant John Grant was taken captive in retaliation for the confiscation of firearms from several homes. Grant was eventually released on the condition the rifles were to be returned within six weeks, but they never were. In November, Pennsylvania governor John Penn ordered the regiment to transfer from Fort Loudoun to their winter quarters at Fort Bedford, 40 miles (64 km) to the west. Before their departure, a 300-man force of colonists led by James Smith laid siege to the fort. Smith's men fired on the enclosure, while the 42nd, low on powder and ammunition, only fired once. Grant finally capitulated after two days, returning the guns, and Smith's men allowed the garrison to depart for Bedford. The regiment next went to Cork, Ireland in 1767 and returned to Scotland in 1775.
During the American Revolutionary War, the regiment was involved in the defeat of George Washington in the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 and saw combat at the Battle of Harlem Heights in September 1776, the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 and the Battle of Piscataway in February 1777. It also fought at the Battle of Brandywine (light infantry and grenadier companies only) in September 1777, the Battle of Germantown (Light Company only) in October 1777 and the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 as well as the siege of Charleston in spring 1780. In September 1778 a detachment from the regiment raided Fairhaven, Massachusetts, inflicting severe damage on the town's shipping industry.
A 2nd Battalion was formed in March 1780, with eight officers from the 1st Battalion being detached to help raise the new battalion. The 2nd battalion was sent to India in January 1781 and took part in the siege of Mangalore in autumn 1783 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. It was still in India when it was redesignated in 1786 as the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot.
Following the end of the war in America, the 1st Battalion were posted to Nova Scotia in 1783, serving there until 1786 when they moved north to Cape Breton Island. The regiment returned to England in 1789. Landing at Portsmouth, they marched to Tynemouth in Northumberland and in the spring of 1790 marched on to Glasgow, before taking up residence at Edinburgh Castle in November 1790.Stewart, I, p.402-403
French Revolutionary Wars
On 8 March 1801, The 42nd took part in the British victory at the Battle of Abukir. At 9 am the troops beached their craft under a rainstorm of a French cannonade and musket fire from 2,500 French troops positioned on the high dunes. The British troops disembarked, formed a line, fixed bayonets and advanced, undaunted by French fire. With General Moore leading the landing force, the 42nd, located in the landing force's centre, struggled up the steep soft sandy ground. The French appeared at the summit and poured a destructive musket volley at the advancing soldiers. The lead troops of the 42nd reached the summit before the French could reload and launched a bayonet charge, hurling them back in confusion. The French counter attacked with a squadron of cavalry before a second bayonet charge by the 42nd caused them to flee. The British losses were 102 all ranks killed and 515 wounded; of these the 42nd Highlanders had 31 killed. The commanding officer, Lt Colonel James Stewart, 6 officers, 7 sergeants, 4 Drummers, and 140 rank and file were wounded. James Stewart had been wounded along with a few soldiers as the boats came into shore. The leadership by the company commanders and subsequent success against an enemy force of double the British numbers was noteworthy.Dundee Courier 7 April 1876, p.7
The Battle of Aboukir allowed a bridgehead to be created as a prelude to the Battle of Alexandria thirteen days later on the 21st March 1801. The 42nd was commanded by Lt Colonel Alexander Stewart after the wounding of Lt Col James Stewart at Aboukir. During the Battle Major Stirling captured a standard from the French which he handed to Sergeant Sinclair who was later wounded and subsequently the standard was lost.The Scots Magazine, 1 February 1803, accessed 6 September 2023 They went on to besiege Cairo and then Alexandria in which the French forces were expelled from Egypt.
Peninsular War